You have to love Jesus more than your own life to become a Christian

You have to love Jesus more than your own life to become a Christian

Authors:  Johnson and Pearl,
Bible teachers and founders of:
Pure Gospel and Revival website
www.repent-pray-revival.org
2021/12/7

Before you proceed, please read this first to avoid misunderstandings:

What is the pure gospel of Jesus Christ?
https://repent-pray-revival.org/2020/06/09/what-is-the-pure-gospel-of-jesus-christ-2/

Main scriptures:

• Mark 1:15 (KJV) “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
• Luke 9:23 (KJV) And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
• Luke 13:3 (KJV) “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
• Jesus Himself said: “You CANNOT be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life. You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.” -Luke 14:26-27 Contemporary English Version (CEV) 

Today, not all churchgoers are true Christians.  Just because a person goes to church, that doesn’t automatically make him or her a true Christian.

Just because you go to the beach, that doesn’t make you a lifeguard!

Just because you get into a boat, that doesn’t automatically make you a fisherman.

Also, just because you walk into a sheepfold, that doesn’t mean you are already a sheep.  Some are actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. (Matthew 7:15)

Likewise, just because you go to church, that doesn’t automatically make you a true Christian.

When Jesus came to Earth the 1st time, religious leaders like the Pharisees went to “church", and played church, but Jesus said they were not justified or saved. (Luke 18:9-14)

Jesus said that the Pharisees went to the temple to pray, pay tithe, and fast twice a week; but in fact they were not justified or saved. (Luke 18:9-14)

In fact, the Pharisees were:

self-righteous, (Luke 18:9-14), thinking they were justified/saved when in fact they are not!
arrogant,(Luke 18:9-14)
covetous, (Luke 16:14 KJV)
self-exalting, (Matt 23:12)
hypocrites, devourer of widows’ houses. (Matt 23:13-14)

Jesus said the Pharisees were full of greed, self-indulgence, spiritually blind. (Matt 23:25-26 NIV Bible)
On the inside, the Pharisees are full of greed and self-indulgence.(Matt 23:25 NIV)
Most importantly, Jesus said that the Pharisees are brood of vipers, not justified or saved(Luke 18:14), and headed toward hell. (Matt 23:33, NIV)

The Pharisees wanted to be baptized by water, but they don’t want to repent! (Matt 3:1-8)
They want religion, but they don’t want repentance and relationship with Jesus. They just want to play church.(Sounds alot like so many of today’s churchgoers and fake Christians!)

I repeat, just because a person goes to church, that doesn’t make him/her a true Christian.

Now, I will ask you two questions.  First, are you in any way like the Pharisees?  I mean, are you self-righteous, arrogant, covetous, full of greed and self-indulgence?   Have you ever repented of your sins before you got baptized in water? (There are at least 35 New Testament scriptures that requires a person to repent BEFORE he/she can be saved or justified.)

Do you want to repent and have a real relationship with Jesus, or you just want to play church like the Pharisees did?

Now, let me ask you a 2nd question, do you love Jesus more than you love your own life?

Probably not!
But Jesus demands this, He demands that you love Him more than you love your own life.  If not, then you cannot become a Christian! (Luke 14:25-27)

If you have repented of all your sins BEFORE you got baptized in water, if you knew your were a hell-deserving sinner BEFORE you got baptized in water, then it should be natural for you to love Jesus more than you love your own life. 

After all, you used to live a sinful life, your life were full of sin and void of meaning and eternal purpose, so of course it make sense for you to surrender your sinful and earthly life to Jesus in exchange for His eternal life.  Of course it make sense for you to love Jesus more than you love your own life.  

Sadly, most churchgoers today do not love Jesus more than they love their own lives.  If this is your case, then this could mean that you are a fake Christian.

As of now, the most important thing that you need to do is to:  understand the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, understand who God is, understand God’s power, greatness, status, and worth.  You need to make a decision to stop being deceived by false gospels or fake churches that leave out the necessity of repentance before salvation. (Mark 1:15, Matt 4:17, Luke 24:47, Acts 2:38, Gal 1:4-10)

You also need to learn why “loving Jesus more than you love your own life" makes all the sense in the world.

In fact, “loving Jesus more than you love your own life" is Biblical, logical, reasonable, and the “most correct decision" that one can ever make in his or her life! 

Here is a verse that 99% of the pastors or preachers in the world does not have the courage or the backbone to preach.  But I must preach it because I have decided to love Jesus more than I love my own life, and I have decided to be faithful even if 99% of the pastors or preachers are not. I figured if a dog can be faithful to his master, so can Christians!

Jesus Himself said: “You CANNOT be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life. You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.” -Luke 14:26-27 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

In Luke 14, Jesus is saying that you CANNOT be His disciple unless you more Him more than you love your life! And you CANNOT be Jesus’s disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with Him.

I didn’t say that!  The Lord Jesus said that! 

In other words, you have to love Jesus more than you love your own life to become Christian (a disciple of Christ). 

You have to love Jesus more than you love your own life to become a Christian!

You have to love Jesus more than you love your own life to become a Christian!

You have to love Jesus more than you love your own life to become a Christian!

I didn’t say that!  The Lord Jesus said that!  

Does Jesus deserve us loving Him more than we love our own lives?

Of course!

Because all life came from God and Jesus! 

Because all things and all life came into existence through Jesus, in Jesus was life and the power to give life. (John 1:3-4 AMP Bible)

What does “all things" mean?  It means all things!  Every matter, space, time, energy, every star, every galaxy, every life, and every human being on earth!  Everything and every star in the universe was created by God and for God’s glory.

Our observable universe is estimated to contain 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy

There are at least 200 billion trillion stars in the universe
https://theconversation.com/how-many-stars-are-there-in-space-165370

Just the sheer number of stars in the galaxies of universe speaks volumes of the infinite power, greatness, status, and worth of the Creator God and His son Jesus.

And since God and Jesus are the only life-giver in the universe, it’s just common sense and logic to love Jesus more than we love our own lives, because He is the Giver of all life!   If God didn’t create us humans, we would not have the privilege to live, breathe, eat, and drink water!

Even if God were to give each of us only one day to live, that would still be grace that we do not deserve.  For God owed mankind nothing.  God is infinitely great and big, and we humans are insignificantly tiny, puny, small, and unimportant.

John 1:3-4  Amplified Bible
3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being.
4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.  

Think of how small, tiny, puny, insignificant, and unimportant we are compared to the vastness of the universe, and yet so many people are ungrateful to God for the air, food, and water that they take in everyday without ever thanking and revering God! 

Before the infinite Creator God of the universe, we humans are so finite, tiny, limited, and unimportant.  And since God already gave us life, creation, and provided salvation by the substitutional death of His Son Jesus, of course Jesus deserves us loving Him more than we love our own finite and limited lives!  That is not too much to ask!  That is not too demanding.  That is just basic common sense!   That is the right thing to do.  That is what we owe God!

–of course Jesus deserves us loving Him more than we love our own finite and limited lives!

God is our heavenly Father, He first loved us and gave us life and provided us salvation from sin. Of course we should love God back.  Our lives are so tiny, puny, powerless, and finite.  Some ignorant and foolish billionaires seem to forget these facts, and their shallow goal in life is to conquer space and reach for the stars. 

But even if one were to conquer the moon, migrate there, or live on one of the stars in our vast universe, no one can ever conquer space, time, and matter.  Neither could anyone conquer sin, death, and the grave by his own power.

Only through repenting of our sins and taking up our cross to follow Jesus can we obtain salvation from sin and death. So we all must love Jesus more than we love our earthly lives.  

When we choose to love an infinite God and His Son Jesus more than we love our own finite, mortal, and boring lives, it is the best decision a human being could ever make.  Why?

Because God rewards us by giving us His infinite love and infinite eternal life in exchange for our love and faithfulness to Him.  

Even if were were to die for Jesus and be martyred for Jesus, that’s ok, for God is the source of eternal life since He is the Giver of all life!  We will have eternal life and live on happily ever after with God our heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ.  Not all of us will die for Jesus, but all of us can and must live for Jesus.   We must preach the pure and true gospel and diligently pray for worldwide revival and the true repentance and salvation of lost souls. 

1 John 4:19 KJV “We love Him, because He first loved us."

You deserve all of our love, dear wonderful Jesus!

In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.
2021/12/7

What is the pure gospel of Jesus Christ? 
https://repent-pray-revival.org/2020/06/09/what-is-the-pure-gospel-of-jesus-christ-2/

“True and False Christian Test”  
https://repent-pray-revival.org/2020/07/09/true-and-false-christian-test/

What is true revival?
https://repent-pray-revival.org/2020/06/15/what-is-true-revival-2/